Arizona Lawmakers Debate Bill to Limit Mexican Gray Wolf Restoration

Republican Bill Would Bar Game and Fish From Transporting Wolf Puppies Into State

A Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature is considering legislation that would fundamentally alter the state's role in conserving the Mexican gray wolf, an endangered species that has roamed the Southwest for millennia.

Senate Bill 1280, which has cleared the Senate and received preliminary approval from the House, would prohibit the Arizona Game and Fish Department from transporting captive-bred Mexican gray wolf puppies into the state for reintroduction into wild populations.

The measure also would prevent the Game and Fish Commission from using any of its own resources to accomplish the same purpose.

Safety Claims Clash With Conservation Concerns

Rep. Lupe Diaz, the Republican sponsor from Benson, told colleagues they need to heed the lessons of a fairy tale when considering whether to preserve the Mexican gray wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood understood that this is a predator that we're dealing with, Diaz said. The whole story of Little Red Riding Hood is that this predator's going to get you.

Diaz told lawmakers that communities in northeast Arizona and northwest Mexico have built cages to protect children against wolf attacks.

That assertion drew a skeptical response from Democratic Rep. Mae Peshlakai of Cameron.

I have lived in the Grand Canyon area all my life and picks pinon nuts in season, Peshlakai said. And I have never been attacked by anything out there. They're well-behaved animals. They're scared of human beings. And they will not attack anything that doesn't attack them.

Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club said she has never heard of a wolf attack on a human, though she acknowledged wolves will attack cattle. The Arizona Livestock Board has a program to provide compensation for confirmed wolf kills as well as grants for ranchers to install non-lethal methods of preventing attacks.

Republican Rep. Gail Griffin of Hereford countered: In Southern Arizona, there is no prey bait except for cattle, kids and animals.

Genetics Are Another Matter

Strictly speaking, nothing in SB 1280 would bar Game and Fish from working with federal agencies to try to restore a sustainable population of wolves in Arizona.

Population goals are on track to be met, said Game and Fish Department lobbyist Ed Sanchez. He said there are 124 Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and 162 in New Mexico, with the goal of hitting 320.

But genetic diversity is another matter, he said.

Rosalind Switzer, a volunteer for Great Old Broads for Wilderness, told lawmakers that, due to capture, poaching and removal, all of the wolves now in Arizona can trace their lineage back to just seven pairs.

Wolves in the wild are related like siblings, Switzer said. Avoiding health and reproductive issues that arise from inbreeding is of the utmost importance.

That is where the pups raised in captivity elsewhere come in, being placed in dens with wild wolves.

Sanchez said that, except on rare occasions, his department is not directly involved with transportation.

Once genetic diversity and population goals are met, the Mexican wolf will be delisted and the Mexican wolf will be managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Sanchez said. Why would we want to maintain the current flexibility to occasionally deploy resources to ensure population and genetic diversity goals to ensure that delisting will occur sooner rather than later?

Diaz, however, believes the current 268 wolves are sufficient, saying there is no basis for claims that their numbers need to reach 320 to be self-sustaining.

We don't have to expand the program anymore, Diaz said.

Endangered Status Has Been in Place for Decades

The vote for the measure came over objections from several Democrats who pointed out that the wolf has been on the endangered species list since 1976.

Tucson Democratic Rep. Nancy Gutierrez said it is only by bringing in more pups raised in captivity that there is a chance to obtain the genetic diversity in the wild necessary to remove the wolf from federal protections.

Debate Centers on Role Arizona Should Play

Much of the debate turned on the question of whether the wolves are dangerous to humans or could be a benefit to the state. At one point, there was even a suggestion that having wolves in the wild could actually become a tourist attraction.

That idea did not impress Diaz.

You would not want to have tourism around these mature animals, Diaz said. They can be dangerous.

The debate about what should be Arizona's role in preserving the Mexican gray wolf comes against the backdrop of a proposal by Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar to delist the wolf from federal protection.

The measure could reach a floor vote in the House and Senate as the Republican-controlled Legislature continues to consider its final priorities before the end of the legislative session.